Cell case partition machine



April 23, 1946.

o. ULLSMITH 2,398,872 QELL CASE PARTITION MACHINE Filed FIeb. 2, 1945 IN V EN TOR.-

Patented Apr. 23, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CELL CASE PARTITION Otto Ullsmith, Chicago, 111., assignor to Trai er Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 2, 1945; Serial No. 575,895

11 Claims. (01. 93-37) This invention relates to. cell case partition machines, and has for its principal object a new and improved. machine of this type.

It is a main object of the invention to provide a new and improved roller box for feeding the strips or ribbons of material from which the cell case partitions are made.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roller box that is easy to adjust to vary the spacing between adjacent ribbons thereby to make cell case partitions of various sizes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a roller box that is of simple construction and is adapted to fit into existing cell case partition machines.

Still another object of the invention isto provide a roller box that is inexpensive to construct, inexpensive to adjustfland inexpensive to. maintain.

Further objects of the invention not. specifically mentioned here will: be apparent from' the detailed description and claims which. follow,

reference being had to the accompanying drawing in. whichv a preferredembodiment 'of the-inventionis shown. by way of example and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved roller box;

Figure 2 is an elevational View partly insection taken substantiallyalong a line 2--2" of Figure I looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 1 a cross sectional view 'ta'kenlisubstantially along the line 3--3 of Figure l looking in: the direction of the arrows.

Cell-case partitions such as. are commonly'used in'cartons or boxesto form pockets-into which fragile articles such aseg'gs, cookies, glassware, etc., may be placed, are now put to such a variety of uses that many variations of the spacing between ad jacent members ofthe partitionare necessary. -Machines for making 1 these partitions must necessarily be adjustable so that a large variety of 'difierentt partitions can be made on the machine and the 'machine must becapable of being readily changed: from" one par-tition size to another. In the; Patent 710,467, issued. to Beck April 23; 1929;.there. iszshown an adjustable cell case; partition machine capable of fulfilling these requirements.

In the making ofpartitionsa roll ofi fibre stock of suitablethickness: is fed: into the machine, punched atspaced/intervals, 'and slit into ribbons which areturned out of? the plane of: the sheetv and tedionwardly to-a: point: of assembly to form. one set of members on the partition.

A second web of material is fed into the machine, unched and. cut into stripsgwhichare disposed at right angles to the ribbons and intermeshed therewith to form the partition.

The. mechanism. bywhich the ribbons of stock are fed forwardly to the assembly position is known as a roller box. and consists ofabox-like framecontaining a plurality of. upstanding rollers whichare geared together and rotated at such a speed as to. feed the ribbons. forwardly the required distance during. interval of. time'between sequential operations ofithe transverse strips. The present invention relates specifically to the so-called roller boxmechanism ofthemachine.

In the above mentioned Beck patent the roller box carries a main drive shaft which extends transversely of the ribbons and. through which the rollers are driven Joy suitable miter gears. In a. box of this type the minimum distance between adjacent ribbons is. determined by the a diameter of the gears on the roller shaft and in certain. instances. it has been desirable to make cell cases with adjacent.- ribbons closertogether than the Beck machine has been capable of. making. Furthermore; in. order to prevent excessive wear of the relatively high speed roller. gears it has-"been. necessary to-encase these gears grease. In adjusting the Beck roller box from one roller spacing to anotherit has been necessary toremove the box fromflthemachine, open it up, make the adjustments required and then repack the box with grease and re-installit in the machine. Asa result,.change-over from one cell case-size to another hasz been an! expensive and somewhat messy job.

Theroller box-of the present invention does away with: the rollers: upstanding alongside of the ribbons and substitutesvdisks which are carried on armaindriveshaf-t and are provided with set screws through. which thewdisks are: anchored in spaced apart relation-1 therealong'. The ribbons are held against the disk by small rollers that are supportedr'orr pivoted-farms anchare pressed againstthe ribbons suitable: means suchas springs. Y The operatingfmechanisms of the roller box of thezpresent. invention are all outin the open-and adjustment. can-be accomplished without disturbing the-lubricatingsystem of the: main shaft. Since the disksiare relatively thinamuch closer spacing of the ribbons can betachieved than: has: been. possible heretofore, "and this adjustment cani-bechanged-without removing. roller box. from: the machine. 7

Referring nowto the drawing, in more detailthe roller box ofthe presentinvention, shown by lar box-like frame I which is provided with laterally projecting, feet 2, that are perforated at 3 to permit mounting the box upon the supports of existing machines. Extending between and journaled in the end members 4 of the frame is a main shaft 5 upon which is mounted a plurality of friction disks 6 each of which is provided with a hub I through which a set screw; Bis threaded to permit keying the disk to the'shaft 5. 'Shaft 5 may be supported in suitable low friction bearings such as roller bearings or ball bearings if desired. Shaft 5 extends beyond one end plate 4 and is equipped with a suitable driving means shown as a grooved pulley 9, by which the shaft is rotated by power furnished either from the main I A mounting rod l0 extends betweenthe end plates 4 of the frame and is spaced from and substantially parallel to the main shaft 5. Slideably mounted upon this rod l 0 are a plurality of blocks l l which are threaded to receive a stud screw l2, the shaft of which forms a pivot for supporting an arm l3. The free end of the arm terminates adjacent the disks 6 and carries a small roller l4 which may conveniently be a' self-contained ball'bearing assembly. The length of the arm I3 is such that the roller [4 engages the disk 6 along. a line disposed in a vertical plane through the axis of the Shaft 5, when the box is disposed with the shaft horizontal as shown.

Mounted between'the end plates 4' is a second thereby to rotate the disks. The frictional engagement of the ribbons to the disk along the line of pressure of the roller l4 urges the ribbons to the right, Figure 3. Intermittently the ribbons are held stationary by the main feed rollers of th machine in the manner best explained in the above mentioned Beck patent, and the disks slip on the ribbons. When the feed rolls are released to advance the ribbons they are pulled along by the movement of the disksB, and pushed past the shears and into the assembly position generally indicated at 30, Figure 3.

. The roller box of the present invention is possessed of many advantages, It can be economically built as a sturdy, self-contained unit, ca-

pable of being inserted in the existing mountings mounting rod l5 upon whichis located a plurality 'of blocks [5, each of which contains a stud screw IT by which the block is clamped in position on the rod. Each block I6 carries a leaf spring l81which extends upwardly and engages the arm l3 and is tensioned to press the roller against the disk with sufiici'ent force to pull the ribbons of material as the disk is rotated.

Side member [9 of the frame terminates below the lower edge of the rollers l4 and serves as a support for the lower edge of ribbons 20. The opposite side 2| of the frame is somewhat thicker than the side l9 and contains a groove 22 which serves as a mounting groove for shears 23, which operate to sever the ribbons in the manner fully described in theabove mentioned Beck patent. Side member 2| terminates in the same horizontal plane a side 19 and serves also as a support for the bottom edges of the ribbons. Shears 23 carry guide blocks 24 which overlie the top edge of the side 2| and serve to 'guide the ribbons through the shears. I

End plates 4 of the frame carry upwardly extending rods '25 which-project-through a hold down bar 26 that is locked on the rod by suitable means such as set screws and is in engagement with the top edges of the ribbon so as to prevent these ribbons from crawling up" away from the rollers.

In setting the machine set screws 8 are loosened and the disk 5 spaced along the shaft 5 in correct relation to get the desired spacing of the maintain this adjustment Set screws I! are loosened and block I6 moved along the rod Hi to cause leaf springs IB to place the desired tension upon the arms. This completes theadjustment and the machine is ready for operation.

Shaft 5 is rotated clockwise as seen in'Figure 3,

of a machine. It can be readily adjusted to any desired spacing of ribbons and the ribbons can be spaced much more closely together than has been possible heretofore. Adequate lubrication of the main rotating parts of the box can be more readily achieved, since this lubrication is not disturbed durin adjustment of the box. All rotating parts may be provided with low friction bearings, and low maintenance thereby assured.

While I have chosen to illustrate my invention by showing and describing a preferred embodiment, I have done so by way of example only, as there are many modifications and adaptations which can be made by one skilled in the art within the teachings of the invention.

Having thus complied with the statutes and shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, what I consider new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is pointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Ina roller boxfor cell case partition ma chines, a rotatable shaft, a plurality of disks on said shaft, means including a set screw for each disk for fixingthe disk on the shaft to be rotated thereby, a roller for each disk, a supporting arm for each roller, means pivotally supporting said arms each in juxtaposition to one of said disks, and means acting on the arm to force the roller carried thereby against the disk under tension. 1

2. In a roller box for cell case partition machines, a rotatable shaft, a plurality of disks on said shaft, means including a set screw for each disk for fixing the disk on the shaft to be rotated thereby, a roller for each disk, a supporting arm for each roller, means pivotally supporting said arms, each in juxtaposition to one of said disks, spring means engaging the arm and tensioned to force the roller against the disk, a

bar, and means for holding said bar substantially parallel to said shaft and over said rollers and disks.

3. A roller box for cell case partition machines comprising, a frame adapted for mounting in the machine,ashaft journaled in said frame, a plurality of traction disks fixed on said shaft and adapted to be rotated thereby, an arm for each disk, means pivotally supporting said arms on said frame, roller means .carried by each arm plurality of traction disks fixed on said shaft and adapted to be rotated thereby, an arm for each disk, means pivotally supporting said arms on said frame, roller means carried by each arm and adapted to engage the disk and spring means engaging each arm and the frame and tensioned to hold said roller means in firm engagement with the disk.

5. A roller box for cell case partition machines comprising, a rectangular frame, end members included in said frame, a shaft journaled in said end members and extending therebetween, a plurality of disks adjustably fixed on said shaft between said end members and extending above the top edges thereof, side members on said frame terminating in a plane through the top edges of said end members andadapted to support strips of partition material extending across said frame and disposed each against a face of one of said disks, a roller for each disk, means supporting said roller in contact with the strip along a line disposed at right angles to the edge of said strip that engages said side members, and means for maintaining said rollers in contact with said strips under tension to cause rotation of the disks to move said strips across said frame;

6. A roller box for cell case partition machines comprising, a rectangular frame, end members included in said frame, a shaft journaled in said end members and extending therebetween, a plurality of disks adjustably fixed on said shaft between said end members and extending above the top edges thereof, side members on said frame 1 terminating in a plane through the top edges of said end members and adapted to support strips of partition material extending across said frame and disposed each against face of one of said disks, a roller for each disk, means supporting said roller in contact with the strip along a line disposed at right angles to the edge of said strip that engages said side members, means for maintaining said rollers in contact with said strips under tension to cause rotating of the disks to move said strips across said frame, a hold down bar extending from end to end of said frame and means on said end members for holding said bar to prevent said strips from rising off of said side members during said movement.

7. A roller box for cell case partition machines comprising, a frame adapted to be removably mounted in the machines, a shaft journaled in said frame, a plurality of traction disks fixed on said shaft and adapted to be rotated thereby, a mounting rod fixed in said frame, a plurality of arms corresponding in number to the number of said disks, means pivotally mounting said arms on said mounting rod for swinging around axes mounted on each of said arms adapted to engage the corresponding disk, and spring mean for forcing said roller means into firm engagement with said disks.

tending therebetween, a plurality of disks adjustably fixed in spaced apart relation along said shaft, a mounting rod extending between and fixed to said end members, roller arms adjustably fixed on said mounting rod in spaced apart relation, said arms being pivoted with respect to said rod, rollers carried on said arms and engaging said disks, a second mounting rod spaced from said shaft and first rod and extending between and fixed to said end members, and a plurality of leaf springs adjustably fixed on said second mounting rod in spaced apart relation with each spring engaging one of said roller arms to press the roller carried thereby against a disk.

9. A roller box for cell case partition machines comprising, a frame adapted for mounting in the machine, end plates in said frame, a shaft extending between said end plates, journals in said plates supporting said shaft, a plurality of disks fixed upon said shaft and adapted to be rotated thereby, means for pressing a strip of material against the disk to cause a rotation of the disks to move the strips, a mounting plate on said frame and extending between said end plates, and shear means mounted on said mounting plate and adapted to sever said strips of material.

10. In a roller box for cell case partition machines, a rotatable shaft, a disk fixed upon said shaft, Work supporting members disposed in a common plane and on opposite sides of said shaft and disk and at rightangles to the face of said disk, a roller, means supporting said roller in engagement with said disk along a linedisposed at right angles to said common plane, and means for maintaining said roller in engagement with and disk and at right angles to the face of said disk, a roller, means supporting said roller in engagement with said disk along a line disposed at right angles to said common plane, means for maintaining said roller in engagement with said disk under tension, and means parallel to and spaced from said common plane for holding work against said work supporting members.

OTTO ULLSMI'I'H. 

